Russell Brand whisks Cambridge graduate Emma Lees away to Italy

28 APRIL 2009As his career gets back on track - he recently returned to radio and a starring role in a remake of Drop Dead Fred is reportedly in the pipeline - Russell Brand seems to have been equally busy on the romance front.

Just weeks after being pictured with old flame Laura Gallacher – the 21-year-old sister of TV presenter Kirsty – the TV funnyman has been snapped embracing 22-year-old Emma Lees on holiday in Italy.

It is not the first time he and Cambridge graduate Emma have been linked. In March they made headlines by kissing within minutes of first meeting while waiting for a ferry in Australia. And last week they were back in each others arms on a romantic Tuscany break in the city of Siena.

Following their initial encounter last month, Emma - who moved to Sydney to study medicine and bumped into the 33-year-old comic while he was touring with his stand-up show – updated her Facebook status to read: "Emma Lees feels a bit surreal".